Manchester to spend Airport Dividend on rubbish

Having a city we can all be proud of makes a huge difference in terms of residents’ perceptions and helping us to achieve our ambitions as a world city, attracting visitors, jobs and investment.

We stated how the city was betraying its duty to keep the city clean and this failure was, potentially, hitting tourism, investment, city morale and so on.

So this announcement of £14.5m to be spent on cleaning and greening the city is very welcome. In fact we hope we influenced the decision with our article.

Let’s hope this Manchester Airport dividend is used wisely.

Confidential will be keeping a look out for the specific initiatives the council will be engaging upon.

Because Cllr Bernard Priestley is wrong in the release below when he says, 'We recognise that Manchester, in common with other major cities, is not as clean and green as it could - and indeed should - be'.

He's wrong because Manchester has been far worse than similar cities this summer.

What's pretty clear though is that it’s great owning – or rather part-owning – an airport.

Our article back in July

Everything that follows is the city council’s press release.

Proposals guiding how Manchester City Council will spend a £14.5 million extra dividend from Manchester Airport will be discussed by its Executive this Wednesday, 11 September.

Executive Members are being asked to endorse the establishment of a Clean and Green Places reserve, which would see the money spent over this financial year, 2014/15 and 2015/16 on a cleaner and better managed environment in the city.

The Council receives an average of around 13,000 enquiries a month from residents about a wide range of environmental matters, from reporting graffiti and flytipping for removal to arranging free bulky waste collections or ordering a replacement bin.

The council has received the extra airport dividend this financial year through its shareholding in Manchester Airport, largely because of Manchester Airport Holdings Ltd’s purchase of Stansted Airport.

As most of this £14.5 million funding is a one-off, it is proposed to use it for one-off investments to improve the quality of the environment. These cannot create ongoing costs, so for example funding could not be used to hire extra staff or support existing facilities but must make a lasting difference.

Airport does us proud

Councillor Bernard Priest, Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, said: "Residents tell us that having a clean and green city is a real priority which is why we are earmarking this money to support that goal. Having a city we can all be proud of makes a huge difference in terms of residents’ perceptions and helping us to achieve our ambitions as a world city, attracting visitors, jobs and investment.

"We recognise that Manchester, in common with other major cities, is not as clean and green as it could - and indeed should - be. This is something which we are determined to improve and this new funding will make a significant contribution.

"With the council already having experienced severe cuts to its government funding and more to come, we must use this one-off dividend wisely so it has a lasting impact.

"This can’t involve committing ourselves to ongoing costs, but it will be about enabling our staff who are tasked with maintaining a clean and green city to be more effective.

"We will be looking at investments on a project-by-project basis but, as an example, this could involve investment in new facilities such as more and better litter bins, new equipment and initiatives to challenge the behaviour of those who cause environmental problems in the city. As always, we will also be listening to the views of communities and are keen to hear their ideas to see how we can work together."

Further details will be announced as individual schemes are brought forward.

The amount of rubbish on Oldham Rd, in Ancoats and in Miles Platting is atrocious. I realise that there might be a deeper problem with a respect for residents' surroundings; socio-economic trends suggest that littering is more prevalent in areas of lower income. The reasons for this is research for sociologists/psychologists, not for MCR Confidential! However, regularly the bins are full to overflowing on Oldham Rd. They are also few and far between. Give people the best chance to reduce rubbish by increasing the number of bins available!

I think we should have bin man friendly eurobins perhaps branded 'I <3 Manchester' on street corners to encourage all residents to play their part. On another note, the window boxes outside the Town Hall were frankly embarrassing during the festivals. Still are. How much do a few geraniums and herbs cost?!

Can you please use the same tactics with Salford, walking up Blackfriars Street is depressing, kicking your way through the rubbish. Crossing the bridge into Manchester is almost a pleasure with the Manchester side always being significantly cleaner.

Can someone at Mcr City Council explain to me why there is a SEVERE lack of municipal rubbish bins THROUGHOUT the city centre? MY assumption has always been that the police think they are dangerous, as potential depositories for terrorists' bombs; is that the case? If so, I am sure by now our western European neighbours have designed a bin that make this potential terrorist use difficult/impossible. PLEASE can the Council invest in as many of these as possible. This single (large) investment will go a long way in reducing litter in our beloved city. The other would be for ALL proud Manchester citizens (young and old), telling off lazy individuals littering and pointing to said bins and saying "you now have NO excuse! Would you throw litter in your own house?"

Bury New Road is the same, looks like a rubbish tip on most days, surely embarrassing for the city with that being the first sight they see. Those trading on the road should be fined for just dumping their trash on the pavement, surely they should clean up after themselves or pay extra for additional cleaning crews...

It's a shame a small part of the £14 million couldn't have been used to save the 6 local libraries which the council recently closed over the summer .... There's rubbish all over the city and suburbs - let's see if the money makes a difference or if the council will find other ways to squander it as usual...

I agree strongly with the others that there are nowhere near enough litter bins in the city centre. Sometimes they aren't closed properly. When they keep overflowing they need to be replaced by big ones like you see at the seaside. There is not enough cleaning and it should be Manchester's No1 priority. The seaside has learnt this lesson and a clean city has less disorder, much less. There needs to be cleaning of the city centre in the evening which is not happening at present. It should be part of normal mainstream spending and not a one-off. It needs to be regular and systematic. It is no good if we are back to square one next year. A team of three picking up litter only costs £90k for a year. Three teams that's £270k not millions. It will only cost millions if the money is blown on stupidity like ad agencies, useless posters and adverts.

most of the City Centre rubbish appears of the commercial streets May be those premises shousl take a lesson from Vanal street which sweeps up daily (later on Sunday as MAN CONS unfair picture shows. Come on traders as Salford Housewives use to say.. Keep you Fronts and Backs clean.

Its not just the rubbish though, as one user noted why not build a park, well as it requires ongoing maintainance costs its a prohibited use of the money...but what if the community were to maintain it, surely that would help build the community and keep it clean & green?

I don't think building a new park on the basis of volunteers being completely responsible for it's maintenance and upkeep would be very sensible. It's very difficult to keep people committed to anything voluntary.

AnonymousSeptember 11th 2013.

As a visitor staying in Whalley Range, I was amazed at the amount of rubbish left on the street this morning - after the bins had been emptied. What a pity rubbish from the bins cannot transfer to the collection lorry without falling onto the street. Is it too much to 'ask' one of the operatives to tidy up? A 'messy' street encourages a 'very messy' street.

I am a Manchester resident who has been working a day or so a week in Leeds recently. Leeds is noticeably very very clean city (albeit my knowledge is city centre only). I would suggest engaging with the Leeds Council to try and work out how they have done such a good job.

I hear Leeds have invested in some new-fangled technology called a 'broom'.

espoirSeptember 12th 2013.

Well done Leeds! Liverpool is also much much cleaner, spotless you could even say. I think it's down to Manchester's incompetent management (Howard Bernstein). Instead of the basics i.e. litter picking and power washing (not rocket science) the money will be spent on anything else but, probably those silly posters like you see in Bolton. You just despair.

AnonymousSeptember 12th 2013.

Manchester Council recently cut the grass verges alongside Kingsway in Burnage. Grass looks very neat but now the rubbish is exposed as it was just left there. If the council paid employees haven't been educated/instructed to clean up after themselves then the general public won't be motivated to either. Will the council see any of these comments or is it all falling on deaf ears? Only constructive criticism is useful.

Perhaps if you're that concerned about the council heeding your opinions, you might want to actually contact them rather than relying on them monitoring and responding to anonymous comments on a third-party website?

Kevin PeelSeptember 12th 2013.

I'm really keen to hear from city centre residents and visitors what you think the priorities for spending should be in our area. As a starter for ten I want to see more and better bins, improved recycling facilities and more enforcement. What do you want to see? Drop me a line on cllr . k . peel @ manchester . gov . uk

I live in the centre and would definitely ask for more and bigger bins (which don't quickly overflow), please. At present the treeguards along Princess Street are used as makeshift bins by passers-by so this area could definitely do with extra bins. I think someone else on here suggested making the bins stand out with I Love Manchester logos - not a bad idea.

IanSeptember 12th 2013.

bigger bins, more of them. i like the love manchester logo idea too

Poster BoySeptember 12th 2013.

‘As a starter for ten’ I'd like to see Councilllors stop going into hiding from issues which stare them in the face, and then reactively putting their head over the parapet trying to appear proactive. Why has taken Mancon to raise this? Why didn’t you raise it? Where have you been with your 'ideas'? Your silence has been deafening.

espoirSeptember 12th 2013.

I've just realised where the money will be spent. On pointless "love Manchester" stickers and posters "campaign" which will be plastered all over bins and lampposts to the tune of £14m which goes to an ad agency. Anything except spending on the basics more bins, emptied regularly, bigger bins, cleaning and power washing.

GimboidSeptember 12th 2013.

The idea of spending 14 million quid is to make the city centre look nicer. A numpty I Heart MCR sticker every ten yards would be totally counterproductive!

AnonymousSeptember 12th 2013.

Mr Peel.....where have you been?....re-election in May???

Alex24September 12th 2013.

I think other posters and myself meant new bigger bins to replace old ones and in badly needed areas with the logo already on. Not someone going around slapping stickers on the current bins...

How about addressing the problem from its roots rather than putting plasters that will eventually come off and show an "open wound"? The money can be spent on educating city walkers not to litter on the street but in a bin. The traffic wardens/community officers/police officers should be trained on "Fine on the Spot" activities as London did before and during the Olympics. Perhaps a trip to London to find out how it is being done there will be of help. Come on Lucy Powell, get your skates on while you are down there and get your hands busy with this project. London has bins with recycling compartments for everything. Kevin and Lucy know about it already. Can you hear me again? Greening the city centre should be an innate reflex of the council if they want to keep their city dwellers sane; a no brainer really. Are they willing to listen or just pretending to be busy keeping their hands in?

Lucy Powell couldn't care less. A career politician and Brownite that got voted in with only an 18% turn out. She be next seen on the run up to the next general election.... And not before

James CawleySeptember 13th 2013.

To be honest much of the city centre is looking tired, run-down and shabby- the area around Piccadilly, High St and Market St in particular (i.e. the area most visitors to the city see), and the rubbish and chewing gum-infested pavements only add to the feeling of squalor....compare to Leeds and now Liverpool with the newly developed retail centre there. Money from somewhere needs to spent to get the city looking clean, green (more trees!!) AND smart- don't get me started on the state of the paving and the roads! The only clean part of the city is Spinningfields and that's privately run by Allied- says it all!

To be honest much of the city centre is looking tired, run-down and shabby- the area around Piccadilly, High St and Market St in particular (i.e. the area most visitors to the city see), and the rubbish and chewing gum-infested pavements only add to the feeling of squalor....compare to Leeds and now Liverpool with the newly developed retail centre there. Money from somewhere needs to spent to get the city looking clean, green (more trees!!) AND smart- don't get me started on the state of the paving and the roads! The only clean part of the city is Spinningfields and that's privately run by Allied- says it all! Reply To This...

There is a petition calling for a public consultation. Then we can find out what the priorities of the people of Manchester are. The petition is on the City Council's website. petitions.manchester.gov.uk/…/letthepeopledecideabout14.5mil… The group behind it can be found at askthepeopleofmanchester.wordpess.com

This sudden social media flux by Cllr's of cleaning the City Up for 14.5m! Let it slip as much as possible, make unsafe, defend against the allegations, blame cuts for zero budget, then pre 2015 election suddenly money discovered to 'tidy up', win points for re-election, enhance personal/ party PR. Deeply disingenuous 'set up'. So predictable & bogus. I await pictures of Cllr's with a broom in one hand, new born baby in the other (doing it with love for a new generation taglines) for optimum photo opportunities! It never had to get this far in the first place but sure will be milked for optimal advantage. Bogus!